Generally, in the male penis, an erection is produced when arterial blood flows to the erectile tissues of the penis, but the veinal return flow of blood to the body is restricted so that the erectile tissues become filled or engorged with blood. The restriction is normally performed by sphincter muscles which function in response to sexual arousal. Some men have various problems, e.g., advancing age, physiological or psychological problems, or premature relaxation prior to completion of coitus, with these sphincter muscles properly functioning. This often leaves these men unsatisfied with the sex act process.
By the recognition that penile arteries are located primarily in the deep interior of the male penis, and the return veins are located in a sub-dermal region along the surface of the organ, it has been known to secure a band of material around the base of the penis closely adjacent a user's body to restrict the return veinal blood flow. This assists in maintaining an erection while the arterial flow remains substantially unimpeded, i.e., the arteries are deep within the organ and protected from pressure by the erectile tissue.
Over the years, various types and configurations of bands for assisting in this restriction of the return veinal blood flow have been developed. Examples of such devices can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,432 by Koch titled "Male Therapeutic Device," U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,800 by Rowland titled "Man's Erection Truss," U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,251 by Edminster titled "Penile Erection Sustainer," U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,227 by Osbon et al. titled "Apparatus For Augmenting Male Potency," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,710 by Burgos titled "Disposable Penile Adjustable Constriction Device." Some of these bands have been developed with a readily detachable fastener which allows the band to be positioned from a substantially open-band configuration to encircle the penis and fasten to a closed configuration. This type of band, however, can often be readily detached by loosening the fastener and is not capable of being stretched much in the closed position without the band or fastener breaking or the fastener detaching. The lack of stretching capabilities makes the band difficult, if not impossible, to use with a ring or band loading device which assists in positioning the band over the distal end and onto a proximal portion of a penis. Additionally, these types of bands require two hands of a user to fasten during the arousal state and can be cumbersome or awkward to use during this state, especially if an erection assist device is used as well.
Other of these bands, do not provide a fastener, but allow the closed band to be stretched for positioning over a distal end of the penis and moved to the proximal end, i.e., the base, of the penis for release into a penile constricted position. As suggested above, band stretching and positioning tools, e.g., a ring loader, have also been developed to aid in the positioning process of these bands. A problem with these types of bands, however, is that once the user is finished with the band and the band is in a tight constricted position, the band can be difficult to remove back over the distal end of the penis, especially over an enlarged organ and over the head of the penis. Also, a band left on a penis in the tight constricted position can cause bruising or other problems with the penis.